As H&M gets older and wiser, their collaboration launches get bigger and better.

Stella McCartney launched her line with a Gwyneth Paltrow and Dita Von Teese attended bash in an old schoolhouse, Matthew Williamson rocked a ship in the Hudson River with Grace Jones and now, Sonia Rykiel will celebrate her collection for the Swedish mega-brand with a parade and runway show in Paris on December 1.

It’ll be in the Grand Palais, home to Chanel’s runway blow-outs, and feature both the lingerie, debuting for holiday and the knitwear which launches next spring.

No word yet on who will sit front row, but given the star power of Sonia’s 40th Anniversary bash, we have big expectations. And with Lara, Caroline and Anne in the ads, we expect big models, too.

Sonia Rykiel’s the newest designer for H&M, and we’ll be getting a double dose.

For holiday, she’ll design a line of lingerie for the Swedish mega-store, but the collection will also sell in international Rykiel boutiques. This sort of pre-collection launches December 5th.

Then, in February, she’ll launch a spring knitwear collection. Unfortunately, the boys are left out of this one, but she’ll design for both women and girls and throw in some accessories alongside what we’re betting will be colorful sweater dresses and knit tanks. In fact, visions of brightly woven bloomers or high waisted knit undies are dancing in our heads.

The lingerie will launch in 1500 stores, but the knitwear will only make it to 250. So you might want to plan a trip to a major city around February 20th.

Fashion Week unofficially kicked off last night in a small screening room at Norwood packed with Vogue-ettes, socialites, Rachel & Rodger & Brad, Lorenzo, Nathalie Rykiel, Jack, Lazaro, Leighton Meester, Patrick McMullan and the Trainas.

Sundance Channel screened the first episode of The Day Before, the documentary style show that follows designers for the thirty-six mad hours leading up to their runway show. It was, as past fashion documentaries have proven, hilarious, stressful and fun to watch - there’s even a bit with a dog.

Before the screening Jack swore, “We never fight,” with a twinkle in his eye.

Lazaro jumped in to clarify, “In the end, if he sees a black collection and I see white, it’ll be gray.”

Have you made plans for the Fourth of July yet? We hope you’re going to be catching some awesome fireworks or grilling out at a sweet barbecue. The American patriotic spirit has even gone global, thanks to Obama-mania.

The latest in the ever-growing category of Obama-inspired fashion (see: Rodarte for Sonia Rykiel) comes from Italian shoemaker Cesare Paciotti - an Obama Tennis Shoe. It’s very simple: a white sneaker emblazoned with the good ol’ stars and stripes.

We don’t mean to be anglophiles, but in the past if we thought about wrapping a flag around our bodies, we’d usually choose the Union Jack.

But now we’re thinking twice about it thanks to Cesare’s cool American look. While the president served as inspiration, the flag detail pretty much embraces the whole country.

So come the Fourth, let’s wave—and wear—our flags proudly.

—AMANDA JEAN BOYLE

The fashion industry’s been kind of obsessed with this election.

Everyone gasped when Michelle wore Thakoon, then again when she wore J.Crew. Everyone panicked when Palin spent $150,000 at Saks and Neiman’s and everyone cringed when she wore knee-high boots.

Sonia Rykiel and Jean de Castelbjac sent Obama dresses down their Spring runway, Nicole Farhi sprinkled her looks with Obama pins and Stella McCartney left personal notes encouraging her runway audience to “V.O.T.E. Obama.”

And now, with four days to go, Zac Posen’s making his message loud and clear. So far, we love his outfit best.

**sent in by a reader - good looking out!

When we think of Spring, we don’t usually think black and white. But given the Spring 09 collections, this might be about to change. An overwhelming amount of designers showed black and white outfits and many had entire shows based on the shades. The graphic above is just the short list. We swear. We had to leave out Dries Van Noten, Balenciaga, Prada, Versace, Christopher Kane, Rag & Bone, Rock & Republic, YSL, Stella McCartney, Giambattista Valli, Cynthia Rowley, Band of Outsider, Philip Lim.. And we have a feeling the list could go on..

On a side note, this black and white thing could be well used as a background to some neon pieces you might have purchased for Spring 08, no?

— HAYLEY PHELAN

*editor’s note: the dress in the top row, labeled Sonia Rykiel, was actually designed by Michael Kors for Sonia Rykiel.

Gloves for Fall, that’s no news, but this Fall’s gloves are too good to not plan for. Short, long, demure, loud, whatever, and we love them all.

Particularly interesting are those with feathers (Gareth Pugh) and skintight leather (Iceberg), which we’re already picturing with short sleeve coats and swingy dresses.

We love it when practical accessories get the most impractical treatment (go Sonia!)

—AUDREY SMITH

There’s a little store tucked into the delis and barbershops on the northern end of Bedford Ave. that we have trouble walking past every day.

Jumelle carries about twenty labels on three racks including the best of Sonia Rykiel, Isabel Marant, Devotte, APC, Lover, Alexander Wang, Les Prairies de Paris - the store is our ideal closet. Especially when you throw in their small selection of accessories and jewels by local Brooklyn artisans.

It’s owned by Candice Waldron, a former journalist and TV producer, and managed by her twin sister, hence the store’s French name.

The best part is, they have great sales, including their summer sale which starts today and goes up to 75% off. The sale’s online too, but not everything in the store is online.

So, we’ll see you there after work.

Sonia Rykiel beat Luella Bartley and Chloe as our favorite collection of the season. Why? Because she somehow chucked both Tinlsey Mortimer and Courtney Love on the runway, as incarnated by Siri T. and Heidi Mount.

Close and shocking second place: Chanel.

Remember the band of outlaws that haunted London’s most fashionable streets this fall? Elle UK is reporting that they’ve finally been caught.

Apparently, the group of bandits included seven men, ages 19-43. We’re kind of surprised there weren’t any women involved, since we secretly wish we could sneak into all the best stores after hours.

But we want to know, are these guys rocking their designer outfits to London’s hippest parties? Because we would have noticed if huge quantities of clothes and accessories from Sonia Rykiel, Luella, Marc etc. started popping up on eBay.

If the crime spree is really over, designers can head into fall Fashion Week breathing a bit easier… meanwhile, we can imagine this story getting optioned for a movie, sponsored by the designers involved.

The London bike thieves have struck again, this time smashing into Sonia Rykiel’s store on Brook Street.

Meanwhile, a new string of American style stealing is on the rise:

Someone’s planning heists at Victoria’s Secret.

A month ago, a burgled store in Fairfield, Connecticut reported the theft of 100 bras from their Pink line. And last week, the same thieves stole over $4000 dollars worth of bras.

The investigating officer says, “We have some people who steal strange things.” He’s probably imagining a bizarre lingerie fetish, but we think he’s wrong.

With the loads of lingerie appearing on major runways this season, it’s clear the thief just wants to be in fashion.

—BRITT ABOUTALEB

After stints in New York and London, the Rodnik rock band has come to Paris.

They play today at the Commes des Garcons store, but unlike London’s super-exclusive concert, anyone can show up to root for the British designers

Click below for a bigger version of the flier, and dress like a groupie for maximum fun -

That means a big pair of sunglasses, really messy hair, and probably something from Sonia Rykiel’s most recent runway…

We’ve always seen Sonia Rykiel as the French Betsey Johnson - cooler with more dirt and more sex, but with that same sense of girlhood that comes from plastic heart sunglasses and ruffled panties.

And though there was a lot to talk about at her show this afternoon - how she made her sweaters into turbans for the girls, how Ali Michael wore a leather cat mask as a headband, how the Marie Digby soundtrack was amazing - what everyone here is talking about is the dance party.

That’s right, the dance party.

After the last creamy cloud dress was over, Irina came tearing into the catwalk with a boa, screaming and jumping and basically just being Irina.

But then Tanya did it too. And Stam. And Lily. Pretty soon there were about twenty models going nuts on the catwalk like it was a disco. Feathers and glitter flew everywhere, the whole audience (minus the fashion editors) was on its feet, and for a few seconds it was actually fun - the real kind, the kind you have with your friends on Fridays.

After the show, one of our favorite editors sent an email:

“Skinny dancing girls. I was worried they were going to faint…”

Yeah, maybe, but what a way to go.

Starrett, publicist.

Got Her: Outside the Maison Martin Margiela show in Southern Paris.

Stalked Her: Because it’s tough to pull off a rainbow print without looking like you’re in a Gay Pride parade. She did it.

Shot Her: We’re also a huge fan of purple and black, ensemble.

She Says: “This is old, old Sonia Rykiel. It’s easy to throw over something plain and create an outfit.”

We Say: Crayola, c’est moi.